1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to vent assemblies and, more particularly, to a vent assembly for an enclosed area and having a security grate for preventing access through a juxtaposed passageway.
2. Description of Related Art
During the summer time in the southwest, the temperature in an unvented enclosed garage increases to well over 100 degrees. Such a high temperature may cause damage or deterioration to temperature sensitive items stored or otherwise disposed within such garage. Moreover, the high temperature renders it very uncomfortable for persons working within the garage. To alleviate this problem, it is common to cut one or more apertures in a garage door and cover such aperture with a multi-louvered screened vent readily available in hardware stores. Such vents permit convective airflow through the garage door and generally restrain intrusion of larger sized insects.
Because the commercially available vents are usually of aluminum or light sheet metal, they are easily destroyed to permit access to the juxtaposed aperture. The now accessible aperture permits a child or small adult to pass therethrough and permits use of extended tools and the like to unlock and open the garage door. The resulting accessibility to the garage and its contents is an invasion of privacy and promotes burglary. The garage owner, and particularly a homeowner having such a vented garage door, is therefore faced with the quandary of either accepting an unreasonably hot garage or risk intrusion.
To encourage airflow into and out of a garage through a closed garage door, one or more of the conventional types of vents are often located close to the bottom and to the top of the garage door. Such positioning permits escape of hot air through the upper vents due to convection and a compensatory inflow of cooler air through the bottom vents. Such plurality of apertures promotes air circulation with attendant cooling benefits but also provide a plurality of locations for intrusion into the confines of the garage.
Many residential garages have gas fired water heaters located therein. These heaters require make up air to provide a continuing source of oxygen to maintain combustion. Often, vents attached with screws accessible from the outside of an exterior wall, door or garage door are used to establish the requisite air flow. Because of the manner of attachment of these vents, they are easily removed by an intruder and access to the interior of the garage becomes possible.
Many municipalities are redrafting or adopting a building code requiring vents in an exterior wall of a garage within twelve (12xe2x80x3) inches of the ceiling and of the floor to insure an adequate source of make up air. Alternatively, such vents may be located in the garage door itself.
To prevent physical intrusion of a human body through a venting aperture or passageway in an exterior wall of a garage, a security grate is positioned adjacent the aperture and inwardly of a conventional louvered vent. Fastening means, such as carriage bolts, extending through square or slotted holes in the louvered vent and security grate and retained by nuts to a bracket, secure the security grate in place while preventing unthreading of the bolts. Alternatively, the fastening means may be threadedly engaged with wall studs of the exterior wall and defining the passageway of the vent. Preferably, the security grate is a sheet of iron or steel of sufficient thickness to prevent destruction by conventional tools. The apertures in the security grate are limited in size to preclude passthrough of tools for creating access to the garage. That is, the apertures minimize the likelihood of intrusion of a tool to unlock the garage door by manipulation of the tool through the security grate. To more securely attach the vent and security grate, a shroud may be formed to define the confines of the passageway within the wall and prevent enlargement of the passageway and subsequent removal of the vent and security plate. A louvered panel may be disposed at the interior end of the passageway to prevent placing elements within the passageway and thereby reduce air flow therethrough and for aesthetic purposes.
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a vent assembly for introducing combustion air through an exterior wall while preventing intrusion therethrough.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a vent assembly for preventing intrusion through a venting passageway of an exterior wall.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide a security grate attendant an aperture in an exterior wall to accommodate venting of the space interior of the exterior wall while preventing intrusion into the space.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a vent assembly for an exterior wall to prevent intrusion and which vent assembly is not dismantleable from the exterior of the exterior wall.
A yet further object of the present invention is to provide a vent assembly with a bracket located within a passageway in a wall that secures a security grate of the vent assembly.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a method for preventing intrusion through an exterior wall while accommodating venting.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the description thereof proceeds.